Swagger should not be mistaken for shouting and galumphing in the newsroom or for its cousin, gonzo journalism, invented by Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas author Hunter S. Thompson and imitated by so many lesser writers for the last five decades. Nor is it partisan.
Swagger, which made journalism a delight to practice and a joy to read, came in many forms, from the sting of Mary McGrory’s dispatches from Capitol Hill to the antics of editor Jim Bellows at the Washington Star to the brash pieces filed by Michael Kelly from D.C. to Iraq and Nora Ephron’s biting commentaries on contemporary life. And it still speaks its name if you know where to look for it, such as the feature stories of Olivia Nuzzi and Kerry Howley at New York magazine and the work of CNN’s Clarissa Ward from war zones. Former Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery practically embodies swagger.